Auxiliary governor control



.May 18, 1943 E. MARTIN `2,319,552

' AUXILIARY GOVERNOR CONTROL Filed Feb. 27, 1941 2 sheets-sheet 1l May18, `1943 E, MAR-rm Y 2,319,552

` AUXIVLIARY GOVERNOR CONTROL Filed Feb.V 27, 1941 2 sheets-sheet 2ATTORNEY Patented Maly 1s, 194e AUXILIARY GOVERNOR CONTROL Erle Martin,West Hartford, Conn., assigner to United .Aircraft Corporation, EastHartford,

Conn., a corporation of Delaware Application February 27, 1941, seriasNo. 380,817

12 Claims.

governing devices and has particular reference to an improved means forobtaining minor-adjustments o'f automatic or synchronizing governors.

An object of theinvention resides in theprovision,l in a speed governorof the character in' I 'dicated, of means for making major changes in`the speed setting 'of the governor and independent means for makingminor changes in thespeed setting of such a governor.

A further object resides in the provision in a governor in which theforce exerted by centriful gally actuated weights is balanced by springpressure, o'f one spring adapted to balance the greater part ofthe forceexerted by said 'centrifugally actuated weights and a second springadapted to balance only a small portion of the force exerted by saidcentrifugallyactuated weights, and independent devices for changing theloading on the two springs.

A still further object resides in the provision in a governor of thecharacter indicated of mancontrolling device.

ually controllable means for changing the speed `setting of thegovernorl and automatically actrolled by two or more such governors in acondition of substantial speed synchronization.

(ci. eso-'97) This invention relates to'improvements in speed parts andinclu-ding va chamber I2 for the centrifugal. weights I4, a chamber I6for the governor speed setting adjusting mechanism and 1a chamber I8 fora motor 20 for changing the speed setting of the governor.

The centrifugal weights I4 `are mounted upon and driven by a drive shaft22 which may have a driving connection with an engine upon which thegovernor is mounted. These' weights act through a. thrust bearing 24 ona stem 26 which carries a valve plunger 284 which cooperates with ports38 and 32 in the drive shaft 22 to control a supply of hydraulic fluidunder pressure from the pre sure line 34 tothe pitch changing mechanism6 of a controllable-pitch propeller 38 or other speed The action of thecentrifugal weights I4 on the stem 26 is resisted by a coiledcompression spring 46 one end of which rests on an abutment 42 securedto the stem 26 and the other end of which bears against a movableabutment 44 adjustable by suitable means, such as the pinion 46 engagingwith rack teeth on the .abutment 44 and rotatable byl amanuallyrotatable pulley 48. A second spring 50 maybe v included,disposed between a fixed' abutment 62 i disposed on thevside' of themovable abutment 44 opposite'the spring 40, and the movable 'abutment44. The purpose of` this spring 50 is to auto- Other objects andadvantages "will bemore particularly pointed out hereinafter or willbecome apparent 'as the description proceeds.

In the accompanying drawings, in which like parts throughout, there isillustrated a suitable mechanical arrangementY for the purpose ofdisclosing the' invention. The drawings, however, are forthe purposeofllustration only and are not to be taken as `limiting or restrictingthe invention, since it will be apparent to those skilled in the artthat various changes in the illustrated rig. 2A with the coverconstruction may be-resorted to without in any`- way exceeding the scopeof the invention.

In the drawings, Fig. i'is a transverse sectional Vview of a governorconstructed according to the invention.

removed, and

' `Ilig. 4 is a schematic view of a wiring diagram for a synchronizingsystem including the improved automatic governor.

Referring to the drawings infdetail, `the numeral l0. generallyindicates .a governor casing preferably formed' of la plurality ofseparable matically set the governor at an operative speed setting incase manual control ofthe adjustment of the abutment 44 vshould be lostby some structural failure such as breakage of the cable used referencenumerals are used to designate similar the springs 40'and 6.0 and isdesigned to exert' a plate shown along this'line force sufficient tochange the governor setting only a comparatively few revolutions perminuteto produce slight variations of the speed setting of the governorfrom the setting maintained by the loading of the main Speeder spring40. By

y thus keeping the forces required to load this spring A lvery small avery light low power motor can be r used to move the abutment 56. Theabutment 66 is moved by a pinion 68 on a shaft 66 mounted in suitableanti-friction bearings 62 and 64 and carrying at one end thereof a gear66 which meshes with' a smaller gear 66l carried on the end of the shaft16 of the motordevice 26 which shaft is carried in suitable'anti-friction bearings 12 and 14 also carried in the governor casingI0.

' A switch 13, as particularly illustrated in Fig. 3,

larly shown in Fig. 4. This switch may comprise a ring 16 secured on theend of the shaft 60, a lever 18 of insulating material pivoted to thecasing and carrying a contact member 80 in contact with the ring, and aspring 82 resiliently urging the lever 18 towards the ring. The ring hasa peripheral surface of insulating material except for a small contactmember that makes a current conducting contact with the member 80 whenthe abutment 56 is at or near its mid-position thus causing the light tobe illuminated when the micro-adjusting means is at or near a positionmidway its governor adjusting range.

The improved governor hereinabove described is particularly adapted foruse in synchronizing the speed of several power plants of a multi-engineaircraft. Fig. 44 shows a schematic wiring diagram for a two engineairplane in which a governor adjusting motor is indicated at 20 and twoengine driven alternating current generators are indicated at 84 and 86.The alternating current generator 84 is mounted upon and driven by thesame engine which supports and drives the governor of which the motor 20constitutes a part and thealternating current generator 86 is mountedupon and driven by a different engine which is utilized as the master orpace setting engine in the arrangement shown. The engine driving thegenerator 86 would have a governor provided with a manual speed setting'control but would not need a micro-adjustment device. The motor 20 `ispreferably a form of electromotor device having separately wound andindependently energized stator and rotor portions, such a device beingknown to the art as a Selsyn motor. The generator 86 is connectedthrough suitable current conducting conduits 88 and 90, a manuallyoperable switch 92, and the conduits 94 and 06 with the stator portionof the motor 20 and the generator 84` is connected through the conduits98 and |00, the switch 92 and the conduits |02 and |03 with the rotorportion ofl this motor. One phase winding of each portion of the motorand one phase winding of each generator is connected with ground, asindicated at |04, through a common conduit |06. With this arrangementthe speed will be set by the engine driving the generator 86 andimpulses determined by the rate of speed of this generatory will beapplied to the stator portion of them'tor 20. The generator 84 will bedriven at the speed of the controlled engine and impulses determined bythe rate of speed of this generator will be applied to the rotor portionof the motor 20. Whenever the impulses'applied by the two generators donot coincide in phase and frequency a rotation of the rotor portion ofthe motor rela-. tive to the stator portion will take place. Such arotation of the rotor portion of the motor 20 will change the loading onthe auxiliary governor spring 54 and bring about a change in the speedof the controlled engine which change in speed will tend to.bring thespeed of the controlled engine. into a state of synchronism withthe-speed of the master engine. By changing the loading on the auxiliaryspring 54 the motor will vary the governor speed setting whenever thereis a variation of the speed of the controlled engine from that of themaster engine to continuously maintain the controlled engine in a stateof speed synchronization with the master engine.

' The spring 54 is so attached at its end to the end of the plunger 26and the end of the abutmay be associated with the shaft 80 and elecytrically connected with a pilot light 15 particument 56 that it canexert a force in either direction on the plunger depending upon whetherthe spring is compressed or extended by the movement of the'abutment 56.When the abutment 56 is in its central or neutral position it does notexert any material force on the spring 54. This neutral position 4of theabutment 56 is indicated to the operator of the vehicle by theillumination of the lamp 15 occasioned by the switch 18 completing thecircuit through this lamp and the battery |08. The indicating lightwhich is operated by the abutment when in the neutral position isintended Ato indicate that the micro synchronizer is in its neutralposition and that operation is not taking place at or near either end ofthe synchronizing range or band. When adjusting the manualcontrols ofthe micro synchronizer, adjustment is made to the point where .g theindicating light is illuminated prior to switching on the automaticelectric synchronizing feature. If the engines happen to be in exactsynchronization at this moment, the light will remain illuminated, andas this is not likely to occur, the synchronizer will move abutment 50away from the neutral position in one direction the invention is notlimited `to the particular embodiment. so illustrated and described butthat such changes in the size, shape and arrangement of theA variousparts may be resorted to as come within the scope of the sub-joinedclaims.

Having now described' the invention so that others skilled in the artmay clearly understand the same, what it is desired to secure by LettersPatent is as follows:

1. In a centrifugal speed governor having.

centrifugal weights operatively associated with a movable controlmember, two speeder springs acting in parallel on said control member toresist the action of said centrifugal Weights thereon, and respectivemeans independent of/ each other for adjusting the loading on said twospeeder springs. Y

2. Ina centrifugal speed governor having a two speeder springs ofdifferent strength acting in parallel on said control member to opposethe action of said' centrifugal weights thereon and respective meansindependent of each other for adjusting the loading on said two speedersprings.

3. In a centrifugal speed governor having a movable controlmember andcentrifugal weights operatively associated with said control member, twoSpeeder springs of different strength acting in parallel on said controlmember to oppose the action of said centrifugal weights thereon,respective movable abutments for said springs movable independently ofeach other, and respective means independent of each other for movingsaid abutments.

4. In a centrifugal speed governor having a movable control member andcentrifugal weights operatively associated withv said control mem- Iber, two speeder springs of different strength .making 4majoryyadjustiner'its -o f the sp'ee'd setting -f ofisaidfgovernor,".andmoton operated means-off small adjusting;aapaly'ffmaknglminr ad" b.` A'j-'con'trol*"iorfmatcliing the speedsofgtWQf Y "rotarypower unithavfi'ngJn combination, vari- D vablespeed'governors' eachcontrolling thespeed l V 'ofrgoneoffsaid units,manuallyoperable "means n for adjusting the `speed -`settings of. saidv`gov ernors'oventhemajorportions of :their operating ranges',electric-'motor means-operable to adjust, the speed-setting Vof jonejforsaid "governors `over the remainder of its-range,l and means responsive*to :the speeds of Abotlrof said units and c'aperablek L to vary theenergization of said motor means and synchronize said units. I

justment's in the speed setting of' said'g'vernor.- l

'7.l In a synchronizing-control, a governor having a manually adjustablemain speeder spring,1

and an auxiliary Speeder spring means having a neutral position 'andselectively adjustable in both directions from saidneutral position tovary its effect on the main spring whereby the speed setting of thegovernor.- is determined by ,the cumulative loading of the two springs..

8.1In aa synchronizing control, a governor havinga coiled speeder springadjustableto vary" the governor speed setting. a second coiled springmeans coacting with said iirst spring to determine'the speed setting,vand having a neutral0` l position, and means operable selectively toadjust said flyballs, lone of said springs being main tained undercompression, manually operable means for variably -loading said lastmentioned spring, adjusting mechanism for variably loading the other' ofsaid springs,` said .adlustin mechanism having a neutral position,determined by coaction-between said other spring and said adjustingmechanism, in'which it" is balanced,

and means operable automatically to operate said' einher te l ltionfofsaid centrifugal `iwei`ghts I ,-thereorLlfi-V pe'ctive :movable1- abutments' lor-said 'I `spr ingsirlvable independently of eachother,Land respective meansjindependent of Seach other for@moving-saidabutments; the meansfor movingv 1 the-movableabutment-"fbrgthe strongeroff said n 'jspeederlspringsgbeingmanuallyoperable; and'k l the' means ior moving the movable abutment`for j; "theweakerspring beingi motor actuated. g

ing with 1said'rlrst spring to control the gov-WP springl` and maten-the speedv or sairisfirstl prime justed to either increase or decreasethe cumula- -f'opposetheraetr 1 thereon-,11.respectivexlmovableabutmntsiforj'said of said range, means for adjusting saidV secondwidelyvarying eiect, a dierentially acting elec- -tric motor operable to varythe smaller of said spring gefEects,` and means variably energizing'said-motor in accordance with speed dinerences smaller spring 'effectconstructed and arranged so that it always tends to return to a neutral'position in which it exerts no force on the adyrnovablecont'rol member`and centrifugal we gh'ts.,4 l l cpeifativelyg'associated with said`control member,V f ,twof'speed spring means movable independentlyj,of

P051@ asini which ne frcerfis-lexert" means l movingijts-abutnentfand'aig I langed thatthe abutmentlymay b'e l`moved either.v'iiirkfiction"from saidneutral :position toinandfselectively adjustablet determine'the speed I u i setting of the governorover the majorportion i l ofrits operatingl range',4 asecond spring coact-,Hl 1f;

ernor speed "adjustment over a: small fraction* spring.. said' meanshaving a neutral position from which it isadjustable to lincrease or de;l crease the opposition tosaid yballs. and auto' matic means 4acting'differentially in response to A the speeds yof both of said primemoversto move said adjusting' means i adjust" saidsecond movervagainstthat of 'themast'er".

l2'.A control for matchingfthe speed o i one prime vmover` against thatora-master prime 'mover having', in combination. a governor for saidfirst prime mover, two selectively adjustable j spring means coactingcumulati'vely to determine the speed setting of said governor andexerting between said'prime `movers whereby to match the speed ofsaidnrst prime mover againstthat j oi said master, the spring means exertingthe justing motor and from, which it may be adtive spring eilect. l

